In 1878, the carbon microphone was invented by David
Edward Hughes. Hughes's microphone was the early model for the
various carbon microphones now in use. It relies on the property that
the resistance of a carbon rod will vary as it is vibrated by sound.

This apparatus was manufactured to be
used for physics experiments in schools and universities.

Blake Transmitter1883

The Blake transmitter was
the first successful telephone transmitter (microphone). It was invented by
Francis Blake in 1878 and used a carbon and platinum resistance element.
It was later improved by Berliner and remained the standard for many years.

Nickel
plated, tapered shaft, aka "oil can" desk set. This rare set is known as
the oil can because of the way it looks upside down. It is equipped with
the ornate, well marked faceplate and the very hard to find "brass
bottomed" receiver. Tapered shaft upright desk sets were the
second form of "shaped" candlesticks.

The Western Electric
model 102 was the bell system's first handset telephone. This desk set
is equipped with the early seamless "spit-cup" E1 handset.

Model 202 Oval base
Western Electric
1930

The Western Electric model 202 was
the bell system's second handset telephone. This desk set is equipped
with the early seamless "spit-cup" E1 handset.

11 digit Potbelly Dial Candlestick
Strowger
1905

Potbelly upright desk
sets were the first form of candlesticks.

This is the first dial
telephone. The inventor, Almon Strowger, was an undertaker in Kansas
City in the late 1800s. The wife of his only competitor worked the
switchboard at the local telephone exchange. Whenever a caller asked to
be put through to Strowger, she would instead deliberately put the call
through to her husband, his competitor. After spending years
complaining to his local telephone company, Strowger found a way to
solve this problem by developing the first automated telephone switch
out of electromagnets and hat pins. Strowger filed his patent
application on March 12, 1889, and it was issued on March 10,1891 as
patent No. 447,918. Strowger formed his company 'Strowger Automatic
Telephone Exchange' in October 1891. On November 3, 1892, the first
Strowger exchange was opened for public service in LaPorte, IN, with
about seventy-five subscribers.

When his system made
its debut, Almon Strowger bragged that his exchanges were "girl-less,
cuss-less, out-of-order-less, and wait-less."1

Straight-Shaft Dial Candlestick
Automatic Electric
1921

The first rotary dial upright desk
set used by the independent telephone companies.

Transcontinental Call Telephone
1915

The
plaque on the telephone reads: This instrument used by Maj. Henry L.
Higginson at Boston, Mass. To open the Transcontinental telephone line
with Thomas A. Watson at San Francisco, Cal. Monday evening January 25,
1915. Transmitter cutout & signal buttons added

Higginson, a civil war hero and founder of the
Boston Symphony, had long been a financial backer of American Bell
(which became American Telephone and Telegraph in 1900) by way of his
connection with the financial house of Lee, Higginson & Co.
AT&T staged several calling ceremonies in 1915.
The first call was initiated by Thomas Watson, Alexander Graham Bell's
former assistant, at the opening of the Pan-Pacific Exposition in
San Francisco. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone
and co-founder of AT&T, led a group of dignitaries in New York.
AT&T President Theodore Vail spoke from Jekyll Island, Ga. And U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson spoke from the White House.
At one point during the call, someone asked Professor
Bell if he would repeat the first words he ever said over the telephone.
He obliged, picking up the phone and repeating Mr. Watson, come here, I
want you. To which Watson, in San Francisco, replied, It would take me
a week now.

The transcontinental telephone line
linked the Atlantic seaboard with the West Coast (and is often referred
to as the New York-San Francisco line). This was the first line to use
DeForest's audion--an early vacuum tube. Thus, it is often regarded as a
key event in the history of modern electronics.

Unidentified French Desk Telephone
ca. 1910

Societe Industrielle des Telephones desk telephone
(French)
ca. 1919

SIT Grammont Desk Telephone
(French)ca. 1910

Thompson Houston Desk Telephone
(French)
ca. 1910

Model 302
Northern Electric Mfg. Co.
1945

Round Base Rotary Dial Monophone
Automated Electric
1934

This
model, dubbed the "Shirley Temple" phone by collectors, is the first
handset telephone used by the independent telephone companies.

Cabinet Desk Phone
Western Electric
ca. 1890'sAlso referred to as a "Vanity Phone"